WESLEY CHAPEL — For years, students at Kirkland Ranch Academy of Innovation had to look elsewhere to compete in high school athletics. Now, for the first time in the school’s history, they don’t have to look any further than their own campus.
The public magnet school officially launched its inaugural sports programs this fall, starting with a volleyball and two cross country teams.
“We have a brand-new gym, brand-new locker room, brand new everything. Spic and span,” said new volleyball coach Micah Berning. “It’s great here. We get to start new traditions like cheers, and just having a nice mix of kids, it’s just been pretty fun.”
The volleyball tipoff against Anclote on Aug. 18 culminated a planning process that began last year when administrators started determining which sports to offer and how to budget for them. The decision followed the start of athletics by sister school Angeline, which raised questions about whether Kirkland Ranch and other magnet schools in the district would eventually follow suit.
Kirkland Ranch principal Danielle Castro was glad to hear it.
“I think athletics or any extracurricular is good for for kids,” she said. “It was an exciting opportunity.”
The Florida High School Athletic Association requires students to compete for their home school, unless that school does not offer their sport. Castro estimates that more than 30% of Kirkland Ranch’s student body have competed athletically elsewhere before this year — including state wrestling champion Paisley Murphy, who competed for Sunlake. Kirkland athletes played for every school in the Wesley Chapel area, and included Zephyrhills, Pasco and Sunlake.
That meant some uncomfortable conversations, particularly with seniors who had spent three years building relationships with teammates elsewhere and suddenly had to switch allegiances for their final year of eligibility.
“You know, the harder part was talking to some of our seniors who have played at other schools for three years and saying, ‘You have to play for us now,’” Castro said.
But with an administrative staff with plenty of former athletes on it, it was an easy sales job to the players.
“This is a great opportunity for them to put their stamp on athletics, even in their senior year, to start and help build the foundation of our program,” the principal said.
Castro and fellow Zephyrhills Bulldog alum Bryan Thomas, hired as athletic assistant principal, will get the programs going. Both were all-county performers in their playing days, Castro as a high-scoring soccer player and Player of the Year in 1997-98, while Thomas earned a football scholarship from the University of Florida and was the North Suncoast’s Track Athlete of the Year in 2006.
The buzz is already building. Volleyball played its first home game last week against Hudson, and the cross country team, coached by Paul Lefebvre, ran in their first meet at the Jim Ryun Invitation in Lakeland Aug. 23. Sophomore Micah Oliver, who advanced to state last year running for Cypress Creek, finished 10th overall; the Navigator boys placed 15th out of 35 teams.
The school also held its first pep rally last week. There will be more to come. In the winter, the boys and girls basketball teams will debut, as well as boys and girls wrestling, competitive cheerleading and girls weightlifting. In the spring, the Navigators will roll out their boys weightlifting team.
“I think the excitement is there as all these sports start to play and they start to see kids in uniforms and they start to see games,” Castro said.
Kirkland Ranch shares its new gymnasium with the K-8 program next door. The gym floor has the name of the K-8 Cardinals logo but says Navigators down the sideline. The gym is branded under the unified name Kirkland Ranch.
The Navigators also settled on a four-color scheme — red, gray, white and black, adding the gray to distinguish from rival Pasco’s red and black.
Because the school doesn’t have a field for football, flag football, soccer and track, or baseball and softball fields, those sports will have to wait. There are currently no plans to add them, though Castro said tennis will be added in 2027-28.
But for the rest, the time is now at Kirkland Ranch.
Play ball.